Heating torches



Feb. 1, 1966 G. HAMMON 3,232,538

HEATING TORCHES Original Filed Nov. 27, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 WwW/a:

Feb- 1955 G. L. HAMMON 3,232,53

HEATING' TORCHES Original Filed Nov. 27, 196]. 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 1,1966 G. 1 HAMMON 3,232,538

HEATING TORCHES Original Filed Nov. 27, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I NVENTOR.

GEORGE L. HAMMON United States Patent ffice 3,232,533 Patented Feb. 1,1966 3,232,538 HEATING TORCHES George L. Hammon, Oakland, Calif.,assigner to Hammon Precision Equipment Company, Galtland, Calif., acorporation of California Continuation of abandoned application Ser. No.154,952, Nov. 27, 1961. This appiication Nov. 22, 1%3, Ser.

2 Claims. (Cl. Z39-132.3)

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 154,952,led November 27, 1961, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to gas torches for producing extremelyhigh heat and more particularly relates to means for protecting thetorch itself and the operator from the heat so produced; furthermore,the invention relates to means for coupling a plurality of such torchesto produce a bank of torches surrounding an object which is to be heateduniformly and simultaneously over its entire surface.

The torch of the present invention has found particular utility insimulating a heat condition which is encountered by the head of amissile re-entering the earths atmosphere. Under such conditions, thespeed of re-entiy and the friction of the air produces an extremely highheat in I a very short period of time. Since the reaction of the metalsor other materials to re-entry produced heat must be known beforeattempting the tiring of a missile which is to be recovered, conditionssimulating such re-entry head are required.

According to the invention, such conditions are met by the torch of thepresent invention. This torch or bank of torches provides aninstantaneous source of heat of a predetermined range of temperature andapplies such heat over the entire, or selected surfaces of the missile.

Another aspect of the invention is that the torch head which produces aheat, capable of destroying the torch it self, must be protected fromsuch heat. Also, the torch operator and the controls on the end of thetorch opposite the torch head must be protected from the heat producedby the torch and from the heat reflected from the object so heated.

It is, therefore, a main object of the invention to provide an improvedtorch capable of producing extremely high temperatures in a short periodof time.

Still another object is to protect a torch operating within ranges ofheat which would otherwise destroy the torch.

A further object is to shield a portion of the torch and the torchoperator from the heat produced by the torch.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description, given by way of example only, in connectionwith the drawings in which:

FIGURES 1A and 1B are side views of two portions of the torch, shownpartially in section, the two portions being threaded together to form aunitary torch;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of a portion of the torch shown in FIGURE lA;

FIGURE 3 is a top view, partially in section, of a portion of the torchshown in FIGURE 1B;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of a portion of the torch shown in FIGURE 1B;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of a protective plate which is mounted on thetorch; and

FIGURE 6 is a top view showing torches arranged in position to surroundan obiect to be heated.

The torch shown in FIGURES 1A and 1B comprises two portions generallyindicated at lil and 11 which are threaded together at l2 and 13 toproduce the torch unit. Portion 11 comprises valve handles l and 15 forcontrolling the amount of two respective gases which form a combustiblemixture. For purposes of the present disclosure, these two gases will bereferred to hereinafter as hydrogen and oxygen, although other gases maybe provided. Oxygen, under high pressure, enters at 16 and forces acheck valve comprising a sleeve 17 and an O ring 1S toward the leftwithin a casing 19 and against the pressure of a spring 20. At such timeoxygen flows around the O ring, into a chamber 2l, and through openings22 into a chamber 23 within the sleeve 17 and into a chamber 24. Handle15 controls a valve stem 25 which normally is seated against a shoulder26 of body 27. Withdrawal of the valve stem permits oxygen to flowthrough a port 2S into a chamber 29. A gas mixing unit 30 is tightlythreaded into body 27 as at 31 and is of conventional type such asdisclosed in the U.S. Patent No. 2,5 07,102 issued May 9, 1950.

The mixing unit comprises oxygen inlet ports 32 which lead to aplurality of respective gas aspirating tubes which emit into a chamber33. Shoulders 34 and 35 on the mixing unit surround an undercutcircumferential ring cut into the mixing unit and prevent the escape ofoxygen between the mixing unit and the body 27.

Hydrogen gas enters at 36 under high pressure and is controlled by avalve similar to that described above for the oxygen gas. Controlledamounts of hydrogen are emitted into a circumferential chamber 37,surrounded by shoulders 34 and 38 on the mixing unit, and then thehydrogen gas flows through ports 39 in the mixing unit. Ports 39 openinto the previously mentioned aspirating tubes in the mixing unit wherethe oxygen and hydrogen are mixed, after which they are emitted intochamber 33.

Two connectors 4d, such as shown in FIGURE 4 are provided, one of whichcommunicates with the oxygen chamber 28 and the other of whichcommunicates with a similar chamber 4l of the hydrogen valve. Respectivemanometers 40' (FiGURE 6) are attached to connectors to record thepressures within the chambers 29 and 37. Thus, when a plurality of gastorches are used, as drescribed hereinafter, the torches may be presetto operate under identical oxygen and hydrogen pressures to thereby eachproduce a controlled heat.

The mixed gases then dow from passageway 33 into a tube 42 which leadsto a chamber 43 (FIGURE lA) in a fixture or body portion lid. Tube 42(FIGURE 1B) is formed of a metal having a relatively lower melting pointthan the remainder of the torch and comprises a fuse line which mayerupt in case of a back-ire within the torch.

A gas passage unit 45 (FIGURE 1A), having reduced opposite end shoulders46 and 47, is connected at one end to body portion 44 and at itsopposite end to a tube 48. The latter is connected at its opposite endto atube 49. Mixed gases are transmitted from chamber d3 through unit45, tubes 48 and 49 to a passage S0 formed in a body portion 5l. Theleftmost end of the passage 59 opens into a cap Sil' mounted on the bodyportion 51 and has gas holes 52 cut therein to disperse gas into achamber 53 formed between the leftmost end of body portion 51 and asupporting plate 54.

The plate 54 forms a portion of a gas burning head, generally indicatedat 55. A face plate 56, having a plurality of holes 57 cut therein isconnected by top and bottom body plates 58 to plate 54. Side plates 59,one of which is shown, are also connected to plates 54, 56 and 5S toform a rectangularly shaped box enclosing a chamber 60. A plurality oftubes 61, arranged in rows in a rectangular array, one row of which isshown, are provided to transmit the gas mixture from the chamber 53 tothe exterior surface of the face plate 56 Where the gases are ignited toform a torch.

It will be noted that the tubes are not parallel to each other but arearranged at their leftmost ends to diverge from each other so that theends of the tubes on the edge of the torch head 56 lie close to, andatan angle to the top, bottom, and side plates 58 and 59. In this manner,the iarne of the torch is evenly spread over a predetermined areagreater than the area of the plate 56. Thus, a large surface may beuniformly heated by one torch, or when the area to be heated requiresthe use of a plurality of torches, the torches may be spacedpredetermined distances from each other.

In most applications, such as where the torches are banked to surround anose cone of a missile, or the like, the torch heads are located soclosely to the objective that the flame, or ames, are deflected backover the torch head, thus subjecting the head to such extremes of heatthat the head tends to destroy itself, if means are not provided toprevent this action. Therefore, the following means are provided to coolthe torch head and a portion of the torch body.

OnV the sides of the portion 44 (FIGURE 2) there is provided a waterinlet nipple 70 and a water outlet nipple 7l. Water, under pressure,fiows from nipple 70 into a chamber 72 (FIGURE 1A) and then through aseries of tubes 73, 74 and 75 into the previously mentioned chamber 60where the water circulates around the array of tubes 61, thus coolingthe face plate 55, the top and bottom plates 53 and the side plates 59as well as the tubes 61. The heated water returns from chamber 61) tothe outlet nipple 7l by the following means. A tube 77 transmits thewater from chamber 6i) into a chamber 7S formed by a body portion 79.The latter is connected to body portion Si and a tube Si) forminganother body portion connected to body portion 44. The body portion 79and the tube d@ form an elongate housing extending from the body portionl to the body portion or fixture 44 so that water passes from chamber'78 through tube Si! and into a chamber 81 having communication withnipple 71. In this manner, the torch head and the body portions betweenthe head and the body portion 44 are protected against the hichtemperature which surround the torch or torches.

In order to protect the torch operator and the manual controls on thetorch, each torch is provided with a heat deflecting plate, and when aplurality of torches is used, the defiector plates are overlapped insuch a manner as to present a wall of plates between the operator andthe flames.

For this purpose, a mounting' base 85 (FIGURE 2) is closely fitted overand fixed on the body portion Sti before the latter is connected to bodyportion 44. The transverse wings S6 of the base are mounted at an anglerelative to a line normal to the axis of tube 80, and has a pair ofcut-away portions 87 which define a pair of sloping walls forming themale fitting of a dove tail connector. A detector plate 88 (FIGURE 5) iscut away on its bottom surface to form the female portion of the dovetail connector and is mounted on the base 85 merely by sliding it on thebase. The plate 88 lies parallel to wings 86 and forms the samepreviously defined angle relative to tube Sti.

It will be observed that when a plurality of torches is used, the plate88 of one torch lies in overlapping relationship to an adjacent torchplate, such as indicated at 88 and 8S". In this manner a wall of platesis formed. If, as in the application of the torches to a nose cone, Vforexample, the torches surround the object to be heated, the plates forman enclosure which not only protects the operator, but also forms achamber within which the heat is confined about the object, thusassisting in the heating operation.

It is to be understood that the torches may be used singly in someapplications, or in banks, as described. In the latter case, a dummy runof the torches on a test objective establishes the optimum operatingconditions for producing the desired degree of temperature. The twogases, each from a common source, are fed to the torch heads under thecontrol of the torch valves which are manually adjusted to produce thesame manometer readings, or such different conditions as desired. Thus,all torches may be preset to an yoperating condition and then by use ofa single main valve in each supply line from the hydrogen and oxygensources, the same operating conditions may be established for a seriesof torch heating operations.

I claim:

1. In a heating torch, a first plate having a plurality of holes thereinextending over the area of the plate, a second plate spaced from thefirst plate and having at least a major portion thereof extendingparallel to said first plate, said plate having a plurality of holestherein equal in number to the number of holes in the first plate, aplurality of tubes of relatively small diameter mounted in said holes insaid first and second plates and extending between said first and secondplates, said tubes being spaced apart so that there is a space betweeneach tube and the adjacent tube, wall means connecting said first andsecond plates so that said first andsecond plates, said tubes, and saidwall means form a closed chamber, said tubes having a length which isless than the longest dimension of said chamber, a body mounted on saidwall means and forming a chamber outside said rst named chamber andadjacent to the second plate so that the tubes mounted in said platesopen into said second named chamber, said body having a passage thereinopening into said second named chamber, a fixture spaced from said body,an elongate housing extending from said fixture to said body and forminga closed compartment, said fixture having a fiow passage therein, a tubedisposed in said housing and having one end in communication with saidflow passage in said fixture and having the other end extending intosaid body and opening into said passage in said body, means forsupplying mixed gases to the ow passage in said fixture so that themixed gases pass through said tube in said housing into said secondchamber and into said tubes mounted in said first and second plates, acooling water inlet tube disposed in said housing and having one endmounted in said fixture and having the other end extending through saidbody and through said second plate into said first named chamber, meansfor supplying cooling water to the cooling water tube .mounted in saidfixture and to cause the cooling water to be supplied through saidcooling water tube to said first named chamber, a cooling water returntube mounted in said second plate and extending through said body andopening into the compartment formed in said housing, and means forwithdrawing the cooling water after it has passed through said housing.

2. In a torch assembly for supplying heat to an object, a plurality oftorches, means for mounting said torches so that they are substantiallyequally spaced from each other and arranged to surround the object to beheated, each of said torches comprising a first plate having a pluralityof holes therein extending over the area of the plate, a second platespaced from the first plate and having at least a major portion thereofextending parallel to said first plate, said plate having a plurality ofholes therein equal in number to the number of holes in the first plate,a plurality of tubes of relatively small diameter mounted in said holesin said first and second plates and extending between said first andsecond plates, said tubes being spaced apart so that there is a spacebetween each tube and the adjacent tube, wall means connecting saidfirst and second plates so that said first and second plates, saidtubes, and said wall means form a closed chamber, said tubes having alength which is less than the longest dimension of said chamber, a bodymounted on said wall means and forming a chamber outside said firstnamed chamber and adjacent to the second plate so that the tubes mountedin said plates open into said second named chamber, said body having apassage therein opening into said second named chamber, a fixture spacedD from said body, an elongate housing extending from said fixture tosaid body and forming a closed compartment, said fixture having a flowpassage therein, a tube disposed in said housing and having one end incommunication with said flow passage in said fixture and having theother end extending into said body and opening into said passage in saidbody, a cooling water tube disposed in said housing and having one endmounted in said fixture and having the other end extending through saidbody and through said second plate into said rst named chamber, acooling water return tube mounted in said second plate and extendingthrough said body and opening into the compartment formed in saidhousing, means for supplying cooling Water to the cooling Water tubemounted in said xture of each torch and to cause the cooling water to besupplied through said cooling water tube to said first named chamber,means for withdrawing the cooling Water after it has passed through saidhousing of each torch, means for supplying mixed gases to the flowpassage in said fixture of each torch so that the mixed gases passthrough said tube in said housing into said second chamber and into saidtubes mounted in said lirst and second plates, and shielding meansmounted on each of said torches and overlapping each other to provide asubstantially continuous shield surrounding the object being heated andfor protecting said fixture and the means secured thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 850,581 4/1907Hopkins 15S-27.4 916,209 3/ 1909 Smallwood 158-107 945,966 1/1910 Mahr263-5 1,389,301 8/1921 Gilbert et al 15S-27.4 2,130,261 9/1938 Bucknam15S-27.4 2,507,102 5/1950 Hammon 137-637.4 2,578,065 12/1951 Hughey15S-27.4

FOREIGN PATENTS 504,733 8/1930 Germany.

12,519 9/1887 Great Britain. 754,402 8/ 1956 Great Britain.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

MEYER PERLIN, Examiner.

1. IN A HEATING TORCH, A FIRST PLATE HAVING A PLURALITY OF HOLES THEREINEXTENDING OVER THE AREA OF THE PLATE, A SECOND PLATE SPACED FROM THEFIRST PLATE AND HAVNG AT LEAST A MAJOR PORTION THEREOF EXTENDINGPARALLEL TO SAID FIRST PLATE, SAID PLATE HAVING A PLURALITY OF HOLESTHEREIN EQUAL IN NUMBER TO THE NUMBER OF HOLES IN THE FIRST PLATE, APLURALITY OF TUBES OF RELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER MOUNTED IN SAID HOLES INSAID FIRST AND SECOND PLATES AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECONDPLATES, SAID TUBES BEING SPACED APART SO THAT THERE IS A SPACE BETWEENEACH TUBE AND THE ADJACENT TUBE, WALL MEANS CONNECTING SAID FIRST ANDSECOND PLATES SO THAT SAID FIRST AND SECOND PLATES, SAID TUBES, AND SAIDWALL MEANS FORM A CLOSED CHAMBER, SAID TUBES HAVING A LENGTH WHICH ISLESS THAN THE LONGEST DIMENSION OF SAID CHAMBER, A BODY MOUNTED ON SAIDWALL MEANS AND FORMING A CHAMBER OUTSIDE SAID FIRST NAMED CHAMBER ANDADJACENT TO THE SECOND PLATE SO THAT THE TUBES MOUNTED IN SAID PLATESOPEN INTO SAID SECOND NAMED CHAMBER SAID BODY HAVING A PASSAGE TEREINOPENING INTO SAID SECOND NAMED CHAMBER, A FIXTURE SPACED FROM SAID BODY,AN ELONGATE HOUSING EXTENDING FROM SAID FIXTURE TO SAID BODY AND FORMINGA CLOSED COMPARTMENT, SAID FIXTURE HAVING A FLOW PASSAGE THEREIN, A TUBEDISPOSED IN SAID HOUSING AND HAVING ONE END IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAIDFLOW PASSAGE IN SAID FIXTURE AND HAVING THE OTHER END EXTENDING INTOSAID BODY AND OPENING INTO SAID PASSAGE IN SAID BODY, MEANS FORSUPPLYING MIXED GASES TO FLOW PASSAGE IN SAID FIXTURE SO THAT THE MIXEDGASES PASS THROUGH SAID